Jump to content

Wittnauer Electro-Chron


Recommended Posts

Several years ago, I dug this out of my dad's box-o-watches.  Further research indicated it is somewhat rare. The battery that it used is no longer available--it is shaped like a flying saucer with lines to fit the case back.  Needless to say, no modern battery would fit this profile.  Fortunately, 1.5 volts is the battery voltage required and others had already discovered that a 389 was the correct thickness.  Someone in the UK had produced some spacers that would fit in the case back and hold the 389.  I tried to contact him...to no avail.  Undaunted, I designed a spacer and printed it with my 3D printer.  Voila!  Works great.  The pictures are of the watch and the spacer as illustrated in the 3D CAD tool.

2021-01-13 18_04_02-Photos.png

2021-01-13 18_05_00-FreeCAD 0.18.png

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 1/13/2021 at 9:02 PM, HectorLooi said:

That sounds like the mercury battery that goes into my Nikkormat camera.

Yeah, lots of battery adapters for older cameras for sure. 

@LittleWatchShopthat is especially nice and very "Buck Rogers" to my mind. I love the hands and especially like the fact that all 60 seconds are labeled numerically!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • nevenbekriev- You nailed it with your description of me and my reaction when the clock started ticking again. I am a newbie.  I love the sound and idea of mechanical clocks but the idea of owning one and trying to keep them running has never appealed to me. My wife bought this one and an antique German wall clock.  When I looked into having someone repair them for me, the universal response was "it's really expensive to work on them, you should just replace the movement". So, I had nothing to lose, I started researching them and opened them up. The wife is happy because she hears the sound of the clocks again. But I have gone down the "accuracy" rabbit hole. In the vertical position, the balance wheel was not floating. It was sitting on the bottom of the frame. I adjusted the lower spring collet and got it floating. It easily passed the 270 degree 3 to 5 minute oscillation test. It took 8 minutes for the wheel to completely stop moving.  I put it the unit back in the movement and checked the safety pin. It does not touch the safety roller anywhere in +/-270 degrees rotation from neutral position. But the amplitude of the rotation with the spring fully wound is weak based on what you are saying. It rotates +/-90 degrees from the neutral position.  No, I did not take the movement completely apart.  That seemed way outside my skill set at the time. There is a reason I became an electrical engineer and not a mechanical engineer. I am much more comfortable with moving electrons than tiny moving metal parts. Will I do it in the long run? Anything can happen. I don't seem to be able to let it go.
    • Isn't that the same guy who told Zelenskyy to escalate the war with Russia/Putin when they already had a peace deal? 2 years later and we have half a million young Ukranian boys dead. He doesn't seem very clever...
    • Thanks guys.  quick question. For automatic movement, particularly this one. can I power down the main spring by pushing this rachet down?  i've gotten pretty used to SW210 and powering down a manual movement. But so far i've only been waiting for the auto movement to run out of juice before opening the case.     
    • @Murks the problem you have mate is most watch cases out there to buy are for Seiko NH3X, ETA 2824 and maybe Myota 8XXX movements, oh also the big ETA 6978/9 movements which the dials start around 28.5mm. You might find one on a Google search but I suspect your main chance will be buying cheap quartz ladies watches and hopefully find one of the right size and condition that is acceptable. 😞   Tom
    • The anchor pin should be perpendicular when the anchor is sat on a flat surface and if you post a close up picture of the backplate I will be able to tell you the correct torsion spring , running fast or slow is usually wrong Torsion spring. Here is a video from my YouTube channel showing how I set the beat  
×
×
  • Create New...